Judyth transitions from Gainesville to New Orleans (Part 1 of 6)

Judyth Vary Baker has often been asked how she made the transition from the University of Florida at Gainesville to the exotic location of New Orleans. As she explains in this interview, she had met some of the major players in cancer research as a result of their interest in inducing lung cancer in mice faster than anyone had ever done before. Among them was Alton Ochsner, M.D., President of the American Cancer Society. When he learned that she was interested in leaving the University of Florida, he contacted her and suggested that she come to Tulane, where he would insure that she was admitted to the Medical School by special arrangement. He promised her scholarship support and sent prepaid bus tickets to travel there. She recently heard from a former classmate in whom she had confided her plans, Kathy Santi, who is now herself a doctor, who expressed surprise that Judyth had not pursued the medical career they had talked about shortly before she left for Louisiana.